The smock is made of a quilting-weight cotton calico, with two-tone double piping, recycled eco felt appliques, and cotton sashiko stitching. One side reads "Vida Vegan Con," and the other is the name of this site, Sews Before Bros. The pattern is my own devising, and I am going to give it to you for free.

That's right! This pattern has worked out so well for Pepper and I that I have no logical next step except to share it with the world. Gandhi told us to be the change we want to see in the world, and quite frankly, I want to see more impeccably-dressed dogs out there.

What's that, you want the pattern now? Well, this is quite embarrassing, but... I'm still honing my Adobe Illustrator skills. Luckily for me, I have a brilliant tutor, and fully expect to meet my self-imposed deadline of May 24, 2013. Which is when Vida Vegan Con starts! How serendipitous.

To get yourself hyped up in the meantime, here are two Vida Vegan Con badges (one official, one Pepperific) for you to put on your site! If you only use one badge, you should use the official one- it's clearer and has more information, plus it's, well, official. However, if your dog has his or her own blog, or maybe you want to put something VVC-related on one of your site's pages, Pepper would be honored to assist! Please link either badge back to the Vida Vegan Con website at www.VidaVeganCon.com.

Check back on both the blog and in the Apparel section of my Patterns page to get the free basic dog smock pattern, coming this May! Click on any of the photos below for a larger shot and your daily recommended dose of dog.